Stony Man II

Buckle up for the ride this is an all out adrenaline rush action book with a pretty good plot and some good sub plots. Hezbollah leader Rihani who has been held prisoner and tortured by Israeli intelligence for 10 years or so is forcibly released by his followers and his plans from the past are put into motion. At first I thought this would be the Arab/Hostage/Save type title but it blossomed out nicely with numerous subplots (unfortunately some not so original) and some good characters introduced. What I really liked about this title was the linking of the Russian/British/Israeli forces coming into the storyline which inevitably led to some fantastic action scenes. Terrific read recommended reading.

I'm just not cut out for Stony Man books. Although the first half of the novel contained something that the original Stony Man Doctrine lacked; a story, the book then took a turn for the worse and settled into the same action scene to action scene monotony. The good: A great villain was created, kind of like a Charles Manson combined with Bin Ladin. Early on, I liked the unique bad guy and the powers he had and the way he used them. Good scenes at the stony man farm, and introducing Kurtzman's help in the computer room. Also some good scenes featuring the president. Able Team's perspective was my favorite action in the book. Leo Turrin was part of the action here as well. The perspective of the hostage magazine reporter was done well. Also the conspiracy centering around getting the hostage newsman to report on Deering's activities. An interesting side plot was developing with the general who was called to the President's office. Nothing really developed there unfortunately. The bad: This book had two major problems. One was the endless and often repetitive action scenes that jumped from one place and perspective to another. Too many characters and places and battles just added to the confusion, and so many of them followed too much the same formula. The other problem with this novel is the action scenes themselves. I had trouble visualizing the action in most of the book. This was the strength of Stony Man Doctrine. But Stony Man 2 was lacking in the quality of the action writing. Far too confusing, too much stuff happened that just wasn't clear, it was more like reading what takes place in someones dream after the details have faded from memory. This combined with the nonstop shifting from one place to another from battle to battle and the repetitiveness of them all made for a less than satisfactory reading experience. The story faded more and more and by the end, it was all just a paramilitary war novel with a rushed and so-so ending. Some plot elements in the novel seemed to disappear. Many of the main bad guys were taken out in an offhand manner. Encizo seemed to be nothing more than in the background. The book had a decent enough start that I will give it a 5.

Middle Eastern radicals have taken Americans hostage. An overt show of force in that region could lead to war, so the Stony Man commandos are sent in. This was a great book. The plot seemed perfect for a small force of fighters--it wasn't like the Stony Man team had to face an army; the small unit size was perfect. Also, the reaction in Washington, when the Army and Navy are told that they are to "play along" with Brognola's squad seemed very realistic. The only reason that SMII loses a star is for the addition of an extraneous plot line. The kidnapped Americans is a perfectly legitimate reason for the Stony Man team to be in the Middle East. For some reason, the author felt he had to add a nuclear menace to the story. It felt superfluous -- just saving the hostages should have been enough. Nevertheless, this is still a very good novel.

Excellent hostage crisis story with plenty of twists and turns. Nice twist to have Mack fight side by side with the Russian special forces while Mossad was trying to stop the Stony team.

Not as good as the first one by a long shot. But, it was passable.

Boring